<p>@ThePrepGirl-- so right! I have a sport coach who knows I am applying and she actually offered to write recs for me (especially to Choate so I can stay on her team)…but then there’s my music teacher who I take private lessons (and have for years) with that I would feel really super awkward about asking. By writing a rec it would mean she would lose that business and her most advanced student, yet this is one of my best ec’s so it might help my app especially at a school where music is a big deal. But I don’t want her to think I am leaving and just give up on me as “checked out” or something.
The whole thing makes me uncomfortable.</p>
<p>PS also @ThePrepGirl that is so funny about the grammar thing. My riding coach wrote my rec when I left public school for private middle school. She gave me a copy and I was horrified–it was full of misspellings and mistakes, a third grader would write better. But the sincerity came through and I got in, so I don’t think admissions people judge the writers on that sort of thing. If they do, just blame it on a concussion. Plus you sound like you have plenty of merit.</p>
<p>Hahaha asking for recs is the most awkward thing. Especially at private school because they try to keep you from leaving. I still have to get my school report, and I’m pretty sure the guidance counselor’s gonna flip a ***** when I ask her…</p>
<p>Somehow this kind of feels like a personal affront to the teachers that, put frankly, I want to get the heck out of their school. So I’m making chocolate-caramel-marshmallow cookies for it to make up for it. You can call it a bribe… I prefer “reimbursement”.</p>
<p>Really, though, I think that my biggest weakness is the rec. My teachers have so many students they probably don’t even know me at all beyond my name. All I am to them is just somebody who’s not a troublemaker.</p>
<p>There is another thread on the topic of asking for teachers recs on the Prep School Cafe board:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-cafe/1232825-asking-teacher-recs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-cafe/1232825-asking-teacher-recs.html</a></p>
<p>yeah…I posted on that one too. You can tell how nervous I am/was! Sorry if my posts become really annoying.</p>
<p>hazelphase: I noticed that you were a part of the class of 2014 thread, and I am too. This is one reason why I am so nervous because it’s like I’ve been at the school for a couple of years then decide I want to leave. And also, I go to a private school too, and people talk and I really don’t want a lot of people to find out I’m applying. And I feel like some of my teachers will have a “you already go to a good school, not good enough?” attitude. So nervous to ask the rest of my teachers…</p>
<p>@Helloel
That is EXACTLY how I feel. I haven’t been at the school all too long, so I especially feel like the teachers will think that I just don’t think the school is “good enough” for me. My school is really small too, so I feel like a lot of the teachers as well as the students might take it personally. So I’m not telling a lot of people 
but they’ll all probs find out anyway hahaha</p>
<p>I approached my teachers after school when they time, and when there weren’t people around. I did not candidly ask for them to not tell anyone, but I was like, “Oh, I haven’t told anyone yet.” which (i hope) was construed as a hint not to! lol.
I told them last week on Tuesday and Wednesday…I’m giving in the actual recommendations on Monday. It was a little awkward, but it was just a conversation. All my teachers were so shocked and sad, as if I had already been accepted. Yet, I haven’t even applied! And also, I haven’t spoken to my guidance counselor, ever.</p>
<p>Hey, my mom keeps telling me about the importance of finishing your student statement before giving your recs to your teacher. Is it really that important to give your statement to your teacher? Does it help?</p>
<p>Also for each recommendation, do I need to provide an envelope with the school’s address? what else? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure you can send them yourself, seeming as you will have to make copies anyway.</p>
<p>Also guys I just did really poorly on my math test, like really bad, almost failing and I’m usually a pretty good student. I also have to ask this math teacher for a rec and I feel like she might think it weird that I just did so poorly yet I am applying to boarding school. What should I do? Oh and she also really intimidates me and is really busy so I don’t know when will be a good time to ask with no one around!</p>
<p>oh god it was so awkward asking my math teacher - the first rec i asked for and i asked for it in person. he was all “HUH WHAT! WHY BS?” i just sent emails for my english and personal recs after debating with myself for so long whether to do it or not. truth is i was scared to ask because my chances of getting in, in my opinion, are average, and i’m afraid of what my teachers might think if i don’t get in.</p>
<p>Oh wow you sent emails? Isn’t that even more awkward when you see them in person?</p>
<p>@helloel- it’s okay if you did poorly on that math test. There’s a lot of general categories that the teacher evaluates you on, not just grades. If she knows you’re usually a good student, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t enunciate that bad test grade. Sometimes I get a bad grade, so I was really nervous about asking. But when I asked my teacher, she was all like, “I’d love to!”</p>
<p>Oh, and try to get him/her at the end of your period, or at the end of the day. I did at the end of the day. You can ask if you could talk to them alone.
Good luck :)</p>
<p>@helloel - I know, right? But I don’t exactly have any other option :(</p>
<p>phew…I just asked for 2 this week. My teachers had no reaction to me applying to boarding schools…it was almost like I was applying to a normal private school. (I guess the fact that a few people the year above me applied helped a lot)</p>
<p>Guys… I really, really need help. I saw on the Exeter website that all TSAO schools accept the same School Report and Teacher Recs, which would be a big help to my teachers- IF ONLY I COULD FIND IT. Is it the TABS forms? They must be online for multiple schools to get it, right?</p>
<p>-Extremely Anxious CR</p>
<p>Yes it it the TABS forms, just go on their website.</p>
<p>Where is the supplementary form, though? Is the “Head/Principal/Counselor Recommendation” the School Report?</p>
<p>-Slightly Less Anxious CR</p>
<p>Yes it is. Don’t worry I haven’t even asked my guidance counselor yet. Make sure they send a copy of your transcript with it.</p>
<p>i havent done recs yet…planning on doing it next week because i have a tour at a school im not sure about on friday.
but my school is split into three parts, the upper middle and lower schools. im in upper school now, should i ask the head of the upper school to do my rec or the head of the whole school? i was thinking the head of upper school because they’re one of my teachers…</p>